The Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance & Finance (ANZIIF) and the Life Insurance Professional Standards Working Group (LIPSWG), whose membership is comprised of AIA Australia, AMP Life, BT Life Insurance, ClearView, MLC Life Insurance, TAL Life and Zurich have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together for the benefit of the industry to:

establish the professional standards framework;

undertake a demographic survey; and

develop an approach to assess current knowledge defined within the agreed framework.

ANZIIF said the LIPSWG members believe this program will improve the professionalism of the life insurance industry, build and improve community confidence in life insurance and create a significantly better experience for customers.

Further, it said the project has the added benefit of creating cultural change and driving strategy to attract and retain career employees.

AMP Life chief executive and ANZIIF board president Megan Beer said becoming more trustworthy requires the life insurance industry to demonstrate competence.

“Defining what it means to be an insurance professional is fundamental to the future of our industry and working collaboratively is the way we will achieve meaningful change.”

AIA chief executive Damien Mu said the new standards will ensure life insurance professionals “have a high level of well-rounded knowledge”, believing that the focus on good customer outcomes “will increase consumer confidence”.

Further, ANZIIF chief executive Prue Willsford said she was enthused by the announcement.

“Over the last two years, we have established a framework to drive this major collaboration in the life industry around professional standards,” Ms Willsford said.

“I’m proud to collaborate with the seven companies who represent 95 per cent of the gross written premium in the life industry in this significant project.”

Adrian Flores is a deputy editor at Momentum Media, focusing mainly on banking, wealth management and financial services. He has also written for Public Accountant, Accountants Daily and The CEO Magazine.